e-bay rip off

[Steve B]

I bought something from an e-bay store. They charged my cc the specified amount - over $700. The charge was made on 8/31. I have rec'd. no shipment, no notification of a delay etc. They have not responded to 4 e-mails or 2 e-bay messages.

All I know about them is their e-bay information. They have no phone number or street address available. I have only seen a reference to their city (Punta Gorda, Florida). They have a 98% rating and have been around on e-bay for over a year.

I registered the official "dispute" with e-bay yesterday. They have 10 days to respond.

What other options do I have? Is there some way to stop payment via the credit card (Master card)? Since it is over $500 - I believe this is a felony if I could get a prosecutor's attention with this kind of thing. I imagine this kind of theft wouldn't be taken very seriously. Should I even bother to report this to the Punta Gorda police?

[orion_joel]

I believe that most credit card issuer's should have some sort of form to register a claim like this. It would depend on the issuer how you get the form. While it may be a felony i don't know that the police would act on this without the correct process being followed to the card issuer.

[KristineS]

Shouldn't you just be able to call the credit card company and get them to reverse the charges? I think most companies have a mechanism in place that will allow you to do this. I could be mistaken about that though.

[billbenson]

You are protected through visa or mastercard. The merchant takes the highest risk. Call your credit card company and say it was a fraululent charge. The merchant will have to prove that the goods were shipped and delivered and have about 10 days to do it.

[Blessed]

If it's any comfort - we've had pretty good results with the ebay dispute stuff in the past - good luck on getting the issue resolved!

[Evan]

You have time to wait before formally disputing the charge. Credit card companies will always want you to deal with the merchant first to resolve the dispute, because before they reverse the charge THEY have to deal with it.

If you're worried about the accrual of interest on it, wait until you receive your statement and before it is due to file the complaint. Usually they exclude that amount from what is owed and they will not accure interest until it is resolved. Now if it takes them a month and they end up saying you did get the item, then you'll pay interest on it from the date of the initial transaction.

[Paul Elliott]

Steve, keep a careful written and printed record of everything you do with date and time. It will help your case, if you have to get more forceful.

Paul

[Steve B]

That will be easy. Since there is no phone number, everything has been done via e-mail.

[Steve B]

This is not having a happy ending. E-bay removed the transaction from my record - and won't answer questions about the details of the transaction when I finally found their phone number. They have not even acknowledged receipt of my request for them to investigate the fraud. As far as I'm concerned, this makes them a partner in the felony.

My credit card company has been better. But, they said it will take 30 days before I receive a decision on the contested charge - so who knows what will happen there. They will likely run into the same issue getting information from e-bay.

Now, my question is who is e-bays competitor? I have some things to sell from time to time. I need to reach a large market for these items - so the local classified won't do.

[Evan]

Craigslist is the only other site I know that is actually competitive with eBay, despite it not being an auction site.

Most auction sites never really took off like eBay did.